BRK's Pilot Acquisition -- A Failed Acquisition -- A Goodwill Impairment -- March 2, 2026

Locator: 50104BRK.

Goodwill impairment: 

So much for transparency. 

Obvious, why this was done at this particular time. The new CEO wants a fresh start.

My hunch: one of the other three was Kraft Heinz. 
 

The other two may have been in this group:

Why is it called "goodwill impairment"?

BRK's goodwill impairment charges over the last ten years. What have been the top ten impairment charges that BRK has taken over the past ten years? 

If truth be known, it was possible, though unlikely, that BNSF might have been in the 2026 annual letter as one of the four.

Will It Outsell The Tesla? March 2, 2026

Locator: 50103BELAIR.

Reminder: Apple is going to start announcing new hardware products this week, apparently culminating on March 4, 2026.

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See The USA -- In A Chevrolet

Supposed to have debuted in late 2025 -- we're waiting --  

The rumored 2026 Chevrolet Bel-Air:
 

Britain Begrudgingly Allows US, On A Limited Basis, To Wage War From Diego Garcia And RAF Fairford -- March 2, 2026

Locator: 50102ARCHIVES.

Link here. 

I assume the Prime Minister will demand that a "British observer" be placed on each B-52 that deploys in or out of Great Britain air bases; and, will require that an after-action report be filed with the "home office." 

If I had room on my walls, I would turn the above photograph into a 4-foot by 3-foot glossy. I've actually had one flight in a B-52 -- low-level-8-hour flight through the Rocky Mountains, out of Grand Forks AFB, 1983? 

I wonder how soon the allies run out of military targets.  

I have no plans to watch any television news today. My television line up: Monk, Psych, YouTube music, a few old movie classics.

Lots of reading. 

But also a lot of activity today:

• take Sophia to school -- highlight of my day;
• huge Schwab barbecue, 11:30 to 2:30 in celebration of Texas Liberation Day
• have early dinner with cyber security expert at Torchy's; flying in from out of state
• take Sophia to Jiu-Jitsu 

Europe: How Fast Can It Crank Up Its Wind And Solar Energy? Ticker: LNG -- March 2, 2026

Locator: 50101DAY3.

Renewable energy: it will be interesting to see how fast Europe can crank up its wind and solar energy.  

Palantir: 

• when I first started a position in Palantir -- link here; 
• Shay: Palantir surging -- link here.

Tickers:

 

Monday, March 2, 2026

Locator: 50100DAY3.

Yes, it's only day 3. 

• H-Hour, D-Day: 0600 hrs Tehran time, February 28, 2026 

Operation Epic Fury: 

• blogs will be posted frequently, I suspect, but we have now have a page that will summarize daily events; 

WTI: up 7.61%; up $5.10; trading just above $72 

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: up 7.61%; up $5.10; trading just above $72.

New wells reporting this week: 

• Tuesday, March 3, 2026: 5 for the month, 111 for the quarter, 111 for the year,
• None.
• Monday, March 2, 2026: 5 for the month, 111 for the quarter, 111 for the year,
• 40847, conf, XTO, HBU Marmon Federal 24X-13E,
• Sunday, March 1, 2026: 4 for the month, 129 for the quarter, 129 for the year,
• 41929, conf, Phoenix Operating, Willer 28-33 2H, 
• 41928, conf, Phoenix Operating, Willer 28-33 1H-LL,
• 41857, conf, Phoenix Operating, Willer 28-33 3H, 
• 41582, conf, XTO, HBU Marmon Federal 24X-13A, 
• Saturday, February 28, 2026: 72 for the month, 125 for the quarter, 125 for the year,
• 41933, conf, Phoenix Operating, Willer 28-33-6H-LL, 
• 41932, conf, Phoenix Operating, Willer 28-33 5H, 
• 41930, conf, Phoenix Operating, Willer 28-33 4H, 
• 41847, conf, BR, Rolla 6F, 
• 41785, conf, Enerplus, MHA Heeler 4994 12-23 3BU, 
• 41784, conf, Enerplus, MHA Mastiff 4994 12-23 2TU, 
• 41783, conf, Enerplus, MHA Collie 4994 12-23 1BU, 
• 41621, conf, BR, Sivertson 6C, 
• 41581, conf, XTO, HBU Marmon Federal 24X-13B, 
• 41580, conf, XTO, HBU Marmon Federal 24X-13F, 
• 41579, conf, XTO, HBU Marmon 24X-13C, 
• 41578, conf, XTO, HBU Marmon 24X-13H,
• 41577, conf, XTO, HBU Marmon 24X-13D, 
• 41372, conf, Hess, EN-Hanson A-LW-155-94-0618H-1, 
• 41369, conf, Hess, EN-Hanson A-155-94-0607H-6,

RBN Energy:  for Gulf Coast refined products, it's down to Mexico by truck, rail, ship, and pipe. Link here. Archived.

U.S. exports of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to Mexico have been mostly rising the past 15 years as Mexican demand for refined products stabilized, the utilization of south-of-the-border refineries sagged, Covid hit and, most recently, Pemex — the state-owned oil and gas company — started bringing its new Dos Bocas refinery online. Over that same decade and a half, the Mexican government’s policy on the import-related roles of Pemex and private companies has zigged and zagged, complicating and ultimately slowing efforts to develop new midstream infrastructure. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll review Mexico’s refined product demand, production and imports from the U.S. — and discuss what likely lies ahead.

Mexico is obviously a key trading partner in general, and has been the #1 source of total U.S. imports since 2023 (when it overtook China for that top spot) and in 2025 it also became the #1 recipient of total U.S. exports, ending (at least for now) Canada’s third-of-a-century run at the top of that heap. It will come as no surprise to our readers that energy — or more specifically, crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel — is a major factor in all that U.S.-Mexico trade. Mexico still is shipping significant volumes of heavy crude to Gulf Coast refineries and the U.S. every day is moving billions of cubic feet of natural gas and hundreds of thousands of barrels of refined products south of the border — Mexico is by far the #1 destination for those products.

We recently examined U.S.-to-Mexico natural gas exports (and the role of non-state pipeline companies) in our three-part blog series, Private Dancers. Today, we shift our attention to refined products. We’ll begin with a big-picture look at Mexico’s demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel; the highly variable output of Pemex’s refineries over the years; and the pace of Mexico’s refined product imports from the U.S. After that, we’ll discuss how gasoline, diesel and jet fuel make their way from Gulf Coast refineries to the Mexican market.

Combined demand for gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel in Mexico rose by almost half in the first decade of the 21st century — from about 900 Mb/d in 2000 to 1.3 MMb/d in 2010 — due to a combination of population and economic gains. Demand growth has moderated since then, averaging 1.3 MMb/d in 2015 and just under 1.4 MMb/d in 2024 and 2025. (There was a sizable dip in 2020 — to just 1.1 MMb/d — due to Covid.) Over the same 2015-25 period, Mexican demand for gasoline (blue layer in Figure 1 below) increased from 807 Mb/d to 835 Mb/d, while diesel demand (green layer) grew from 421 Mb/d to 427 Mb/d and jet fuel demand (yellow layer) rose by one-third, from 74 Mb/d to 101 Mb/d.